COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission estimates nearly 1 million more people will move to central Ohio in the next 25 years, but resources show the housing market has slowed its pace.

Now nearly two months into 2025, resources examining 2024 in its entirety are coming to light, including the Columbus Realtors’ central Ohio housing market review. The review found a slight shift in the housing market, easing off the rapid pace of the pandemic to a more typical market pace.

According to Columbus Realtors, homes spent longer on the market in 2024, with an average of 28 days. The organization noted this was a significant increase from the 24-day average in 2023. Both single-family homes and condos averaged 28 days. Columbus Realtors said this longer average indicates buyers had more time to browse and consider options.

The study also found average home sale prices rose, and Columbus Realtors said it is still a seller’s market. The median home sale price rose 5.9% in 2024, hitting a median of $319,900 and an average sale price of $365,257. It was also the first year since 2021 that the number of closed sales increased from the year before, raising 4.2%.

Although it is a seller’s market, there are some findings that benefit buyers. New listings raise 7.9% in central Ohio, providing more options for those looking to buy. Buyers were also more likely to purchase at a fraction of the listing price, with homes selling on average at 98% of the asking price. Although this is still a large percent share, it is lower than it has been in the past five years.

The data also broke down trends among specific school districts. Nearly 10,000 closed sales occurred in Columbus, and 6,225 of them took place within the Columbus City School District. The next most common central Ohio district with closed sales was South-Western City Schools at 1,621. Olentangy, Hilliard and Westerville followed, with 1,330, 1,200 and 1,104 closed sales, respectively.

The most expensive neighborhood to purchase a home in was, by far, New Albany. New Albany Corp. averaged $1,183,864 in sales prices for 2024, and the New Albany-Plain school district still surpassed others at $931,403. The next most expensive areas included Bexley ($688,783), German Village ($668,948), Upper Arlington ($658,487) and Dublin ($624,776).

The least expensive neighborhood for home buyers was Washington Court House with an average home sale price of $185,996. Whitehall was the next least expensive with sales prices of $192,842, followed by Valleyview at $196,314. The next least expensive neighborhoods topped $200,000: Lancaster at $225,353 and Newark at $228,243.